No To Recycling? Eikev

How is the human spirit tied to inanimate objects?

And what does it have to do with recycling?

The Torah Portion Eikev enlightens us on both queries. Eikev touches upon the interplay between idolatry, recycling and human thought.

The human psyche is profoundly impacted by material objects; even something as simple as a glass of water may be profound. Regardless of whether half full of half empty, the H20 can generate must mental contemplation.

Certainly wastewater recycled to drinking water- from toilet to tap- arouses a multitude of unpleasant thought and perhaps those of elation for environmentalists. Houses for sale- sites of horrendous murder scenes- most often require disclosure of that morbid fact.

Inanimate objects’ histories can shape the human interaction with said objects. In these circumstances, an uninformed observer could find an individual’s emotional connection with an object to be completely irrational.

Eikev’s Relevance

In Eikev, Moses instructs the Children of Israel with respect to their engagements with other peoples who practiced idolatry.

Moses’ instructs them: “You shall burn the statues of their gods in fire. You shall not covet the silver and gold on them and take them for yourself, in case you’ll be trapped through it, because that is an offensive thing to the Lord, your God.” Deuteronomy 7:25.

Why would reusing silver and gold from statues of gods be offensive?

The Ten Commandments is the first point of this inquiry. Within the Exodus’ Decalogue, the Ten Commandments provides: “you shall not make a statue or any form that is in the skies above or that is in the earth below or that is the water below the earth. You shall not bow to them, and you shall not serve them.” Exodus 20:4-5.

Could it be that the Lord feared that the gold and silver of the idols would in turn be used to make graven images of himself? If such an image was created, it could give rise to thoughts that the Israelite God was somehow created out of some lesser gods. Thus, the two commandment violations are amplified in synergy.

The Example of The Golden Calf

The tale of the Golden Calf illustrates how an inanimate object can become thought provoking from the materials used to create it.

The Exodus story tells of the Children of Israel obtaining silver and gold from Egyptians prior to leaving the country. Exodus 12:35-36.

After leaving Egypt, the Children of Israel traveled to Mt. Sinai. There, they received the Ten Commandments. Moses climbed up Mt. Sinai to obtain the Decalogue. This lengthy delay caused the Children of Israel became anxious and mutinous. Moses’ brother Aaron, the nation’s priest, appeased them by fashioning a “Golden Calf” – an idol. In doing so, he solicited precious metals from them. It was most likely that the precious metals which were used to craft the graven image of the “Golden Calf”.

In that event, “The Children of Israel said, after Aaron crafted the Golden Calf “These are your gods, Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt!” Exodus 32:4.

In essence, the idol mentally connected them back to all that was in Egypt, including the nation’s religion.

The Consequences of Recycling

Looming in the background in Moses’ edict from Eikev was the fear that the Children of Israel, had they possessed the gold and silver from the idols, may have in turn provided it to the priests in connection to something related to places of worship, i.e. the Tabernacle.

The materials extracted from idols could have been melted down and crafted to form sacred ritual objects used for the worship of the Israelite Deity. Thus, the thoughts of idolatry could intrude sacred spaces.

Thus, the idols’ gold and silver carried with them reminders of their origin. This knowledge has the capacity to permanently invade an individual’s thoughts. From there, it ran the risk of transmission to others.

Conclusion

Thus, the Torah Portion Eikev reminds humanity of the powerful connections that can be made by objects. Inanimate objects with a history have a Pavlovian-like potentiality to shape the mind concerning matter of faith and belief. Thus, the logical goal of recycling at time may be abandoned for the sake of the human spirit.

Be well!!

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